Donald Trump
Don’t you just love it? The Republican Presidential Primary debates have been entertaining and educational. We are learning more and more about these candidates and I think that is a good thing.
The RNC has scheduled twelve debates for the primary election season. Fox News and CNN will hold three debates each, with the rest distributed among ABC, CBS, CNBC, NBC, and Fox Business News. There will be one debate per month through February, 2016, and two will be held in March, 2016. There are lots of chances for all candidates to say great things, and lots of chances to achieve a foot-in-mouth posture.
And then, there’s Donald J Trump. The guy seems to be able to say anything he wants and not be held responsible. Trump seemed immune to blowback from his trash-talk until the moment Carly Fiorina gave him a one sentence slap-down. It was a BIG DEAL! Trump tried to recover with an inane comment that Carly was a beautiful woman, a stupid thing to say. He seems incapable of saying that he made a mistake, and this particular quip at Carly may cost him key support.
There is a Biblical injunction about those that live by the sword, die by the sword. Donald Trump is using his speech like a sword. He will inevitably suffer in some way when his own words come around to bite his generous rear end. You know, the one he is always showing the other candidates?
The blowback is already starting. A supporter of Trump’s asked him a question at one of his town hall meetings about when we can get rid of Muslims in this country, and that Obama is a Muslim, not an American. Trump went along with the premise, and that was a huge mistake. Where was Trump’s head?
This was one of those political land-mine questions. It should be easy to anticipate that kind of question and Trump should have had a ready reply. At some point a candidate for a political office needs to demonstrate some sort of political ability to dodge, or minimize the effect of those kinds of live audience hand grenades. Trump has yet to learn that lesson.
Trump is not a stupid man. As a matter of fact, he is very intelligent and quick on his feet. The fact that he went along with the questioner tells me that that is exactly what Trump believes.
Then Trump commits the universal sin of calling a lady ugly. That’s unforgivable. Carly Fiorina is 61 years old, and looks great. Remember, I used the word, lady. Trump would be well advised to use that word when talking about Carly from now on.
So, will The Donald start falling in the polls because of his explosively bad trash-talk? Will he be the instrument of his own demise? Only time will tell. Maybe he has learned something in the process.
I wouldn’t bet on either proposition.
